Barrento, S. 2013, MusselsAlive project achievements, The Grower: Newsletter for the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers Jun 13, 10-11.

1. The Grower — 1
The GrowerNewsletter for the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers
June 2013
Chairman’s
Column
2,3
SAGB
Conference
4,5
China Report 6,7
ICMSS ‘13 8
MusselsAlive 10
Succession
Planning
12
Biosecurity
workshop
16
INSIDE THIS 20
PAGE ISSUE
The Grower is
distributed to all
members of the
ASSG and is also
available online at
www.assg.org.uk
Why don’t you
consider advertising
to our specialist
readership?
The Grower is a quarterly newsletter edited by Janet H. Brown, The Shellfish Team, 2
Annfield Grove, Stirling, FK8 2BN jan.brown@dsl.pipex.com
For membership of ASSG contact Chairman: Walter Speirs, Muckairn Mussels, Achnacloich, Connel,
Argyll, PA37 1PR walter.speirs@btconnect.com
For further information see our web site at www.assg.org.uk
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the official
view of the Association
Advertising
The Crown Estate Marine
Awards success for Shellfish
Workshop warmup for conference
“Well kent” faces seen in the
audience at the Oyster Herpes
and Biosecurity workshop
held in Oban in April. (full
report page 16). This turned
out to be a warm up event for
workshop organiser Janet
Brown because Nicki
Holmyard who has organised
the ASSG conference for the
past 5 years has stepped down
and Janet is to take over from
her. Nicki has done an excellent job and introduced a number of innovations, such as the
competition for best shellfish producer in Scotland. That and hopefully her standard of
excellent catering will be continued. The Minister, Paul Wheelhouse pictured above
announced at the Marine Awards event above that he will be giving a keynote address.
Selling your
business
17
FSA Scotland 18
Photonews 20
Stephen Cameron, Managing
Director of the Scottish Shellfish
Marketing Group was worthy winner
in the category “Outstanding
Contribution to Industry” at The
Crown Estate Scottish Marine
Aquaculture Awards event held at
Prestonfield House. He is pictured
here being presented with the award
by the Minister for Environment and
Climate Change, Mr Paul
Wheelhouse. Stephen fought off
strong competition for this award.
Loch Ryan Oysters were the other
shellfish winners who won in the
category Stewardship award—for
Repopulating the Loch Ryan Oyster Beds for the Next Generation. See more pictures on
back page. Photo from Lewis Houghton Photography

2. The Grower — 2
Chairman’s Column
Walter Speirs, chairman of Association of Scottish
Shellfish Growers
Welcome to the summer edition of The Grower.
Could have fooled me, it’s pretty chilly at Achnacloich
today! Looking on the bright side, I suppose it may slow
the growth of algal toxins that are starting to appear
around the coast.
UK Aquaculture Forum
First meeting to report on this issue is the UK
Aquaculture Forum, which met in Cardiff on 22nd
March. Topics relevant to our sector were Norovirus
and Oyster Herpes Virus. On Norovirus the discussion
revolved around possible future acceptable standards for
shellfish, and the impact it could have on our industry.
Updates were given on the status of OHsV around the
UK, and the practicalities of retaining disease free status
for the UK.
Shellfish Forum
On 4th
April the final meeting of the Shellfish Forum
in its current format was held in Edinburgh. As well as
the usual agenda items, the future of the group was
debated. More on that to come later.
SAGB Mollusc Committee
12th
April was the SAGB Mollusc Committee
meeting. Good news at last on the Gangmasters
legislation, with DEFRA prepared to accept that
mollusc cultivation should not really be included within
the scope of the legislation. Legal processes still need to
be finalised, but I hope we are nearly there. Possible
changes to the way shellfish waters are tested for
classification purposes was discussed, and the
implications it could have debated. Norovirus was also
hotly debated, again with regard to possible future
acceptable levels of contamination. Industry view
remains that whilst methods of detection are still not
completely reliable imposing a standard could be
unnecessarily damaging. An industry led Code of
Practice is possibly a better option for all, but as with all
voluntary standards who would police it?
As you know we held our AGM at SAMS in Oban
on the 16th
April, thanks to those of you who attended.
The workshop on OHsV that took place (kindly
sponsored by Seafish) will be reported on elsewhere in
this issue.
SARF News
The Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum (SARF)
have funded a project to explore alternative strategies to
mussel spat supply, and the first meeting with the
chosen contractor was held in Edinburgh on 29th
April.
The intention is that this should be a fresh look at how
growers can be more certain about obtaining spat, also
looking what happens in other countries. As we heard at
our conference last year, variability in spatfall is now a
concern for all mussel growing areas in the world. You
will have received a questionnaire relating to this
project by now, and I would urge you to take a minute
to complete it.
Brussels meetings
I represent EMPA at the Strategic Coordination
Group meetings in Brussels. This group oversees the
working of the Water Framework Directive, and the
River Basin Management Plans that are part of it. The
issue of standards for the quality of Shellfish Growing
Waters is still live, as the current directive falls at the
end of this year, and there are no standards in the Water
Framework Directive to replace them. Asking the direct
question at the meeting as to how this was going to be
dealt with, the answer given was as vague as always, so
with one meeting to go before the end of the year, time
is running out. As I will come on to later, we should be
protected in Scotland before the end of the year, but it is
still clearly a problem for some other member states.
New developments
The Shellfish Forum mentioned earlier was part of
the Ministerial Group for Aquaculture, which has now
reached the end of its working life. It has been replaced
by the Ministerial Group for Sustainable Aquaculture
(MGSA), which has a new brief, and different members.
The first meeting of the MGSA took place in Edinburgh
on May 7th
. Shellfish still has a part in this new
structure, and our new group is rebranded the Shellfish
Working Group. Targets and objectives for this new
group were discussed and agreed at the meeting.
Broadly, it has to try and help industry achieve growth
targets, using the report Prospects and Opportunities for
shellfish farming in Scotland prepared by Stirling
University as the starting point. More on that later.
The MusselsAlive project has now finished, with the
final meeting being held in Portugal on 21st
and 22nd
May. It has been an interesting project, and final reports
will be available soon. However it has been quite a bit of
work, and a lot of travelling, so quite happy that it is
now completed (see report from Sara Barrento on page
10).
The BEADS project is also now completed,
following the final meeting which was held in Cork on
28th
and 29th
May. Again an interesting project, with
some further work possibly arising out of it with regard

3. The Grower — 3
to depuration of toxins and Norovirus. As with the
MusselsAlive project, I am relieved it is now finished.
I have previously mentioned the Shellfish Water
Quality Group that has been set up by Scottish
Government to structure the protection of Shellfish
Growing Waters once the existing Directive finishes at
the end of this year. We met on 4th
June in Edinburgh
and had a very positive meeting. New areas were
proposed for designation, and also several boundary
adjustments made to bring areas into line with the
Shellfish Harvesting Waters Directive. Protection will
be through secondary legislation managed as part of the
River Basin Management Plans. A consultation on the
proposals will take place later in the summer, with the
intention being that everything will be finalised before
the end of the year.
Shellfish Working Group meeting
The following day was the first meeting of the newly
established Shellfish Working Group, also in
Edinburgh. It was an interesting meeting to Chair, as we
did not have a fixed agenda, but were trying to create
one for the next meeting. We were trying to focus on
what we collectively could practically do to assist the
shellfish industry develop and grow. A difficult
question, which led to a fair bit of debate, heated at
times! Afterwards I was wondering if we had lost the
successful formula of the Shellfish Forum in return for
the new group, but I suppose change can often be
challenging, and I hope the next meeting will be a bit
more structured, and we can find some practical issues
to get our teeth into. All suggestions very welcome!
If there is anything I have touched on in this report
that you would like more detail about, please do not
hesitate to get in touch.
Finally, please remember the dates for our
conference this year, 2nd
and 3rd
October, in Oban.
Best Wishes,
Walter
ASSG Annual Conference
Corran Halls, Oban, 2nd –3rd October 2013
The programme is still in preparation but speakers already signed up include, Minister for the Environment and
Climate Change, Paul Wheelhouse, Marco Huissen of Murre Techniek BV (Netherlands), Prof Colin Moffat, Head
of Marine Scotland Science, Sylvain Huchette of France Haliotis and David Attwood of Loch Fyne Oysters.
Bookings now being taken for trade exhibitors. Contact Janet Brown
Competition for best Shellfish Producer in Scotland, Crassostrea gigas, Mytilus edulis and Ostrea edulis
The ASSG is extremely grateful for sponsorship from The Crown Estate, SNH, and Seafish
Chairman’s Column –continued
If you think shellfish
farming is tough…….
When it is cold, windy and rainy and it seems like a
tough life working on your mussels lines or grading
oysters then take a look at what the Inuit living on
Wakeham Bay on the Arctic Sea in Canada will do for a
meal of mussels. There is a short YouTube version
available at
www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Z0qGvC3vqaA
and there is a clip from the original programme from
the BBC in their Human Planet series which puts the
clip in a fuller context at
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0113k17
And it may apply as well to those of us who merely
enjoy eating the mussels!

4. The Grower — 4
The 44th annual conference was held at
Fishmongers’ Hall, London, in May this year, the 110th
of the Association.
The opening address to the conference was given by
Jeremy Simmonds, SAGB President, who informed the
meeting that for the first time the conference would
feature on Twitter. He then introduced the keynote
speaker, Richard Benyon, Parliamentary
Under-Secretary for Natural Environment
and Fisheries, who developed the themes
from his presentation at the previous
year’s conference of sustainability and
‘working together’. Reference to both was
made during many of the other
presentations throughout the conference
this year. The Minister summarised some
of the initiatives being pursued by
government, including Marine Plans and
conservation areas. Here he re-iterated the
need for these to be based on scientific
evidence, but stated that progress was
limited by resources. He also expressed
his view that aquaculture must be market,
not subsidy, driven and that the cost of
water quality improvements must be
proportionate.
The Drummond Lecture – established
in honour of Maldwin Drummond, SAGB
President from 1986-2008– was given by
Clive Askew, a previous Assistant
Director of the Association. Clive gave a
retrospective of his career with shellfish,
having been involved in the early days of
hatchery cultivation of oysters in both
Spain and the UK. He documented the
growth of bureaucracy over the years and
the problems this faces for a small
industry. He then briefly explored some
current issues, including TBT, Biotoxins,
Norovirus, Conservation Zones and
shellfish as part of a healthy diet.
Mark Grey presented on Responsible
Sourcing, one of the eight workstreams of
the new Seafish Strategic Direction. This
will be delivered through various guides as
well as the responsible fishing scheme. A
major issue is determining what activities
will be allowed in conservation areas. This
is a major task for the IFCAs and one for
which fishermen are contributing
evidence. There is much more on this at
http://rfs.seafish.org/
Martin Syvret looked at the
advantages of co-location in the form of
aquaculture at offshore wind farm sites.
This is being tested by a project at the
North Hoyle wind farm, where a seed
mussel trial in 2010 gave promising
results. The Project will identify
opportunities for this kind of development
and a guide will be produced. This will be
available at
www.aquafishsolutions.com/?page_id=83
Tim Dapling spoke on the challenges
facing the IFCAs and the approach to
these through working in partnership with
other organisations, illustrating his talk
with some famous art works with a marine
theme as a background. He emphasised
the need for ecosystem management of
inshore fisheries, but with a socio-
economic perspective. A priority is a
wholesale review of bylaws and
regulations, to be completed by 2015.
Sam Evans looked back over 43 years in
the fishing industry, from fishing lobsters
as a youngster to setting up his own
company, Kildavanan Seafoods.
Tony Legg looked at the opportunities for
marketing his Jersey native oysters.
Historically, the fishery here yielded
64,000 tonnes a year, but this was not
sustainable and for many tears none have
been available at all. His approach has
been to emphasise the local provenance,
supported by a logo, and a “Genuine
Jersey” label, but also to seek Aquaculture
Stewardship Council (ASC) accreditation.
He described the process and, during
questions, asserted that the cost was
acceptable, especially as it is something
increasingly demanded by major retailers.
Clive Harward gave a background to
waste water treatment and the work of
Anglian Water, where a text alert system
for when combined sewer overflows are
activated is in operation. This initiative
has been developed in partnership with
Seafish and he hopes for future
collaboration with them and with SAGB.
SAGB Annual Conference
Ian Laing reports
Ian Laing works with
Cefas where he has
been involved in
shellfish aquaculture
research and advice
for almost 40 years.
He has edited
Shellfish News since it
was first published in
May 1996 and is a
regular attendee at
the SAGB annual
conferences.
Richard Benyon
Clive Askew
Irene Bocchetta
Martin Syvret

5. The Grower — 5
Irene Bocchetta gave an overview of the
three categories of the EU protected food
name schemes. These are PDO (Protected
Designation of Origin), PGI (Protected
Geographical Indication), and TSG
(Traditional Speciality Guaranteed). The
first two ensure the place of production,
examples are Isle of Man queenies and
Whitstable oysters, whereas the third refers
to a recipe or method. An example of this is
bouchot mussels. She described the
assessment process, which, with
consultation, takes about one year. The many benefits of
the schemes, especially the economic advantages, were
explained.
Harriet Moonesinghe described her PhD project at
the University of Portsmouth, sponsored by the
Fishmongers’ Company, on fish and shellfish allergies.
Her work covers three areas: prevalence in different
regions of the world, which varies, as does age of onset;
characterisation of allergies, covering species and
reactions, including comparison with
symptoms from, for example, biotoxins;
development in relation to fish and
shellfish intake during pregnancy and
subsequent consumption by infants.
The first day was concluded by a
showing of the Seafish film “The Business
of Fishing”, introduced by Hazel Curtis,
Chief Economist at Seafish. The film
features four vessel owners and explores
the complexities of operating in the modern
fishing industry.
The second day began with Ewen Bell
describing the biology of Nephrops,
especially its burrowing behaviour, which
is used for stock assessment. Video from cameras on
towed sledges, an example of which was shown, is
examined to discriminate and count burrows over a
known area. The harvest rate can then be calculated by
comparison with fishing data over a wider area. Most
(22 of 34) of the EU fisheries for this species are in the
UK and are worth more than £100 million per annum.
Alan Law then spoke on the function of Natural
England, of which he is Marine Director, and the
relationship with SAGB.
Viktoria Varga Lencses, from DG MARE of the EU
Commission, described the proposed arrangements for
aquaculture within the reform of the Common Fisheries
Policy. New ‘basic’ and ‘market’ Regulations will be
drafted and a new funding scheme, the EMFF, within
which aquaculture will be a priority topic. The basic
Regulations will look towards a greater sharing of
information, including best practice. Linked to the
EMFF will be multiannual national strategic plans. It is
hoped to reduce the administrative burden and facilitate
development by various initiatives, including reducing
the time for approval of businesses. A new body, The
Aquaculture Advisory Council, will be formed. This will
be a consultation body of relevant stakeholders. There
was an assurance during questions that water quality
standards will continue to be protected when the
Shellfish Waters Directive is repealed.
Ed Pope and Frances Hopkins spoke
on ocean acidification and the work
that is being done under the UK
Consortium Programme. This four year
programme runs until next year, has 23
research partners and is worth £12
million. This work is described fully in
Issue Number 35 of Shellfish News
(www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/publications-
and-data/shellfish-news.aspx). For
shellfish, there is serious concern for
the early life stages of cultivated mollusc species,
although there is some hope for mitigation of the effects
through management and husbandry measures.
Charles Clover and David Sales rounded off the
‘working together’ theme with the story of successful
cooperation of fishermen and conservationists in the
management of Lyme Bay, the UKs largest marine
protected area. Here, with support from IFCAs, the
MMO and NE, there have been various studies towards
designing a sustainable fishery, leading
to agreements that have often been
initiated by the local fishermen.
The meeting ended with a joint
presentation from Hilary Cox and Nick
Samujlik on the annual, since 2010,
Cromer and Sheringham Crab &
Lobster Festival. This is run by
volunteers with a range of expertise.
There is a strong artistic component and
an important charitable function. The
festival also assists the local tourist
industry. For more on the festival,
including links to photos and videos,
one of which was shown at the meeting,
see: www.crabandlobsterfestival.co.uk/
Copies of the above presentations will eventually be
posted on the SAGB Slideshare website.
Shellfish Culture
Shellfish as art once again but this time in the millinery
line. The Mayor of Cromer, Hilary Cox showed how
dedicated she is to the crab and lobster festival organised
by Cromer and Sheringham by giving her presentation
modelling this superb lobster hat and crab pendant!
Victoria Varga Lencses
Tim Dapling

6. The Grower — 6
The ponds we visited were also vast (see facing
page). A ten kilometre square area of sea has been
enclosed with rock causeways creating the ponds, with
channels allowing seawater to enter or leave the ponds.
The ponds are filled with seawater, and micro-algae
allowed to bloom. Jellyfish are then introduced to
consume the algae, and their faeces fall to the bottom,
where sea cucumbers feed on it. In the summer when the
sea cucumbers are inactive, shrimp are introduced to
utilise the nutrients. Sea urchins graze on any seaweed
that grows. This ‘extractive’ culture is removing
thousands of tonnes of nitrogen and phosphorus from
the coastal environment, thus effectively reducing
coastal eutrophication. We were assured that the quality
of the water leaving the ponds was better than when it
came in.
Every pond has a small house at the end, where the
farmer and his family live. Whist we were there, more
ponds were being created, with an endless stream of
lorries carrying rock to the outer edge of the area.
The sea cucumber nurseries were vast, 200,000
square meters of dark, steamy buildings, filled with
Earlier this year I was delighted to be included in a
learning journey to China, organised and funded by
EATIP, the European Aquaculture Technology and
Innovation Platform, hosted by Ocean University of
China in Qingdao. The purpose of the trip was to learn
more about Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture, and
explore the possibility of developing a working
relationship with Chinese Universities and industry.
We visited hatcheries and nurseries producing sea
cucumber and abalone, as well as large ponds growing a
variety of seafood, and a boat trip round a seaweed and
shellfish farm.
The first point to make is the sheer size of the
operations we visited. The open sea system visited was
in Ailian Bay near Rongcheng and covered more than
100 square kilometres, with a total of eight species being
farmed. Once out in the middle of this site, lines of
buoys stretch out as far as the eye can see on all sides
(see photos above right and on facing page). Production
from this area includes 80,000 tons (dry weight) of kelp,
2,000 tons of abalone, 120,000 tons of oysters and
10,000 tons of scallops.
Dates for your diary:
Ibis Shellfish KTWorkshop 2
Production, Processing and Marketing
September 12-13, 2013
Four Seasons Hotel, Carlingford, Ireland
Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers
Annual Conference
Corran Halls, Oban
2-3rd October 2013
World Oyster Society Meeting
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam,
December 10-13, 2013
Contact details
Editor Janet H Brown, 2 Annfield Grove,
Stirling, FK8 2BN
jan.brown@dsl.pipex.com
Chairman: Walter Speirs, Muckairn Mussels,
Achnacloich, Connel, Argyll, PA37 1PR
walter.speirs@btconnect.com
Treasurer
Stephen Cameron, stephenc@scottishshellfish.co.uk
Other members of management committee;-
David Attwood david.attwood@lochfyne.com
Nick Turnbull nick.iomo@btinternet.com
Cree MacKenzie ‎ cree@scaliscro.co.uk
Tristan Hugh-Jones tristan@oysters.co.uk
China Visit
Walter Speirs

7. The Grower — 7
tanks which contained clear corrugated plastic, all
covered with tiny cucumbers. In the abalone nursery
roof tiles in raceways provided the habitat for the tiny
abalone.
China is the largest producer of molluscs worldwide,
and seeing the industrial but holistic way they farm
makes it very unlikely that any other country will
achieve production on this scale. Production of molluscs
alone is in the order of 10.6 million tons. Grown as they
are with only sunlight and available nutrients as an
input, it is a very sustainable industry, even on such a
scale.
Whilst is unlikely that aquaculture on such a scale
could be envisaged anywhere in Europe, there are many
things we can learn from the Chinese. They have of
course been utilising aquaculture as a means of
producing food for centuries, and in more recent times,
the ability to produce food with no input cost other than
labour was seriously important.
The hospitality offered by our hosts was second to
none (see photo below), with a wide range of top quality
seafood on offer. I do hope there will be some kind of
follow on from this trip, as there is so much that we can
learn from the Chinese if we want to step up our game
when it comes to aquaculture.
China visit—continued
Scallop shells for oyster spat settlement
Lunch is servedAbalone nursery

8. The Grower — 8
Notes from ‘Down Under’ ICMSS ’13
Doug McLeod
Despite the cutbacks in North American budgets
(the US contingent was particularly sparse this year,
with several FDA regulars denied funding to
participate), there was strong international
representation among the 210 participants at the most
recent “9th
International Conference on Molluscan
Shellfish Safety” (ICMSS) held in Sydney in March
2013, with almost 30 countries represented. Although
we were able to welcome 4 representatives from Cefas,
and 4 from Ireland, there were unfortunately no
participants from Scottish industry, regulators or
research institutes.
Partly as a result of the recent Tasmanian PST event,
which made the debate extremely apposite, there was
much talk and discussion on risk assessment based
management of biotoxins, both currently regulated and
‘emerging’ toxins. One interesting and positive
regulatory note divulged by the European Commission
representative was the apparent agreement between
Member State experts to propose an easing of the
Yessotoxin Action Level from 1.0 to 3.75 mg/kg, which
should make life easier for Mediterranean producers of
mussels, and that the EU Reference Laboratory would
be considering more research on methods, reference
materials and Action Levels for ciguateratoxin,
palytoxins, pinnatoxin and cyclic imines.
Vibrios also appeared to have a higher profile than
at previous ICMSS events, reflecting the recent first
ever vibrio events on the East coast of the USA
following several years of presence on the West and
Gulf coasts. The question was raised: how long before
it appears in European waters?
But perhaps the most interesting area of discussion
was that on viruses, with a particular focus on
Norovirus. Apparently the favoured conclusion of a
European Commission Working Group is that there
should be virus standards applied to both production
areas and to end products, linked to stricter assessment
of Class B Growing Areas. In addition, a fascinating
dichotomy emerged during an expert ‘Round Table’
discussion on the questions: “Should a virus threshold
level for bivalves be set? And should virus testing be
integrated into risk management programmes?” Whilst
all noted they were speaking in a personal capacity
rather than as a representative of their organisations, the
Europeans (UK, France and Ireland) and an Australian
market representative all responded ‘Yes’ and ‘Yes’ to
the 2 questions; the other experts (USA, NZ and AU)
voted ‘No’ and ‘No’ (although accepting the utility of
virus testing in specific risk assessment situations).
So there are some clear signs that additional
regulatory burdens are likely to appear for the shellfish
industry in the next few years, particularly in Europe!
Watch that space, my friends!!
Happily there were some more relaxed events during
the week, with a cruise around Sydney Harbour and a
visit to the Hawkesbury River oyster growing area
(notable for having lost its Sydney Rock Oyster
production to Marteiliosis some years ago and its
Pacific oyster production to the herpes virus OsHV1 in
recent times!).
Finally, the venue for the next ICMSS was
announced – Puerto Varas in Chile, in March 2015!
Pictured left; The Expert Panel
on Viruses : L to R: David Lees
(Cefas), Chair, Anthony
Zammit (NSWFA), Paolo
Caricato (EC), Soizick Le
Guyader (Ifremer), Terence
O’Carroll (BIM), Al Campbell
(ARC consultants, NZ), Mark
Boulter (Sydney Fish Market),
Bill Burkhardt (FDA).
Doug McLeod has been contributing to The Grower under the
by line “Notes from Down Under” for almost 5 years. This is
the last! Doug & Cath McLeod have decided to return to
Europe, where they plan to offer consultancy services to the
seafood industry. Doug can be contacted via the usual e-mail
address: douglasmcleod@aol.com, while Cath can be reached
on : seafoodsafetyassessment@gmail.com "

9. The Grower — 9
Loch Fyne Oysters invests in Morecambe
Bay Oysters
Loch Fyne Oysters Limited has acquired a
controlling interest in Seasalter (Walney) Limited
trading as Morecambe Bay Oysters as part of an
ongoing strategy to increase its shellfish production.
Shellfish growers, particularly in Scotland are very
familiar with Morecambe Bay Oysters as a well-
established oyster business located on Walney Island,
Cumbria where it operates a shellfish hatchery, and an
oyster growing site at Ulverston on Morecambe Bay.
Managing Director Kelsey Thompson, who formed
Seasalter (Walney) Limited 13 years ago as a buy out
from the famous Kent based Company Seasalter
Shellfish (Whitstable) Limited owned by pioneering
oyster producer John Bayes, is very excited with this
investment that will secure and increase employment in
the local area and allow further development of the
oyster hatchery to ensure a regular supply of quality
oyster seed for the UK and overseas markets.
The investment in Morecambe Bay Oysters will
provide Loch Fyne Oysters with the capacity to expand
its own oyster production and supply its partner oyster
growers in Scotland. The timing is right with the
increasing demand for oysters.
Oyster Hatchery Manager Tony Smith is delighted
about the investment which will improve oyster seed
production with the upgrading of the algal culture
systems and the introduction of a brood-stock breeding
programme.
Loch Fyne Oysters Limited is keen to increase its
sales of oysters, David Attwood Aquaculture Director
for Loch Fyne Oysters Limited said “We are delighted
to be working with Morecambe Bay Oysters; they have
a highly skilled and motivated team with a proven track
record. It was always an aspiration of Johnny Noble and
Andy Lane (co-founders of Loch Fyne Oysters) to
operate an oyster hatchery and it is great to see that this
has been realised.”
Below; Kelsey Thompson, Tony Smith and David
Attwood at the World Oyster Congress December 2012
In the last issue
of The Grower we
reported on the
shock news that the
President of the
Comité Nationale
de la
Conchyliculture
(CNC) M.
Goulvain Brest,
had resigned after 15 years in the post and not at the end
of his appointed term. The elections have been held just
in time for us to present the results in this issue as they
were announced on the CNC website on 19th
June 2013.
The role of President has gone to M. Gérald Viaud
(pictured above) who is currently President of the
Regional Committee of the Shellfish (CRC) of Poitou-
Charentes and who is also current President of the CNC
Sector I (Oysters). We wish him every success in his
new role.
An election was also held to appoint his successor as
President of the CNC Sector 1 (Oysters) and as Vice-
Chair of the AcSB. And it may be no surprise to any of
the attendees at the World Oyster Congress that the
victor in this election was M. Olivier Laban (CRC
President Arcachon Aquitaine).
The CNC is the representative body for all shellfish
sector operators (production-market) and it is created by
a French law. All shellfish growers in France are
obliged to be members of CNC.
New President of CNC announced
Progress in Marine
Conservation 2012
In June 2012 in Stralsund, Germany, the 3rd
international conference on “Progress in Marine
Conservation in Europe 2012” provided a forum for in
-depth discussions on important and emerging marine
nature conservation issues. The conference presentations
focused on marine protected areas, anthropogenic
impacts on marine biodiversity, sustainable fisheries, the
implementation of marine nature conservation strategies
and the protection of marine endangered species.
The respective conference proceedings are now
available as PDF version and can be downloaded at
www.habitatmare.de.

10. The Grower — 10
MusselsAlive project achievements
Sara Barrento
MusselsAlive project is coming to an end. The last
meeting was held on the 21st
and 22nd
of May. During
the meeting several documents were presented and the
major outcomes of the project were discussed. European
projects are not always easy to accomplish, especially
when we are dealing with a live product in this case
mussels from different countries (Scotland, Ireland and
Norway). Each country has its specific regulations,
trading problems, and different ways to process mussels.
Within each country, different companies face different
challenges. In Scotland the hot topic is depuration, but
in Norway the major concern is grading and holding
mussels for an extended period of time.
The main aim of MusselsAlive was to identify
difficulties and come up with solution to grading,
conditioning, holding and transport. To achieve this
Swansea University developed several questionnaires
and interviewed mussel farmers, from Scotland, Ireland
and Norway. The knowledge obtained with the
interviews was essential to design experiments to
address weight loss during transport and ways to prevent
it. Other experiments that were designed include the
minimum possible flow during depuration to prevent
unnecessary pumping costs, or the design of a holding
system to keep mussels alive for an extended period of
time (Figure 1). It sounds odd to develop a holding
system that can keep mussels alive for extended periods
of time without feeding, when the main aim is to sell
mussels as quickly as possible. However, several
companies harvesting in remote places where logistic
complications can arise due to unforeseen transportation
or weather conditions have shown interest in having a
system that can keep mussels alive for a couple of
weeks without feeding. Also during the project it was
shown that spawning mussels can be held for up to
two weeks in a holding system at 5˚C with low
mortality (9%); after these 15 days in the holding
system, mussels were transported during 24h from
Wales to Portugal, and mortality after transport was only
1.3 %. So, a holding system that can keep mussels
Figure 1. Diagram showing the general components of the system. The numbers represent specific components of the system
where water samples were taken for water chemistry analyses. The basic water flow of the system is as follows: water flowing
from the livestock tanks (1, 2,3 and 4) flows out through the base of the tank via the external stand pipe through the filter bags (box
labelled with the letter A) into the return sump (5). From the return sump the water is pumped into the protein skimmer (B) then
flows into the delivery sump (6). The water that is pumped to livestock tanks is pumped through the UV array (C) and the heat
pump/chiller (D). The prototype bin (E) was placed in tank 2.
Sara is a highly
motivated professional in
marine science and
seafood, with 7 years
experience. in data
reporting concerning
European Projects in
collaboration with
Companies, Associations
and Research Institutions
from the European
Union. Sara has a solid
background in science
communication to researchers and wide public audiences.
Knowledge transfer experience in the seafood industry is
another area that she has embraced in the last three years. At
present Sara is developing the MusselsAlive training material
and starting a new research/knowledge transfer venture in
integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA).

11. The Grower — 11
alive for extended periods of time, that can at the
same time depurate mussels, and keep quality of
spawning mussels, seems to be better than a
conventional holding/depuration system.
Having all these issues in mind, the MusselsAlive
team built and tested a new prototype holding system
(Figure 1) and a transport bin (Figure 2) that can be
folded for transport and can be used for holding
mussels, as it perfectly fits the standard holding bins.
The bin is therefore constructed to be a combined
transport and holding unit, which means it can be used
for harvesting, dry transport to holding and/or packing
Figure 2. The prototype transport bin.
facility and for wet holding during a short or long
periods.
The system was tested fully loaded with 830 kg of
mussels for 33 days, the water flow was 3080 L/h in
each bin (220 kg of mussels). The oxygen was always
above 9 mg/L or 85%, seawater temperature was kept at
5˚C, and mussels were not fed. After this period
mussels were transported to Portugal in modified
atmosphere packaging, where mussels quality was
analysed. It was concluded that after more than 1 month
(33 days) without feeding, and with accumulated
ammonia in the water mantle cavity mussels still have
an excellent or good quality score after 1 or up to 3 days
transport in MAP. The system also complied with EU
regulations regarding depuration.
This was the last experiment tested by the
MusselsAlive team.
After assessing the industry needs, after all the
experiments and tests done in Scotland, Wales, Norway
and Sweden, we are developing training material which
include fact sheets, videos, best practice codes, and
manuals. All this will be available to ASSG members,
and we invite you to check the MusselsAlive web site at
http://www.musselsaliveproject.com/
For further information contact Sara Barrento
s.i.barrento@swansea.ac.uk
OYSTERS
gigas
halfware seed for sale
We will have large numbers of
gigas halfware seed
available from our Argyll farm
from November this year (2013)
Size between 5 and 10 gms
For details please email or
phone
roger@shianfish.co.uk
01631720216
Shian Fisheries,
South Shian, Oban, Argyll
PA37 1SB

12. The Grower — 12
Succession planning
Janet H Brown
Courtney Hough, speaking at the ASSG annual
conference 2012, highlighted “succession planning” as a
matter of concern in aquaculture. Many farms were set
up in the 70s and 80s by “baby boomers” of the post war
– as they approach retirement and beyond what happens
to their farms? And what can we do to ensure shellfish
production continues in Scotland, or even doubles
production as has been mooted?
One way of highlighting a problem is to use a case
study of a solution – that is what I intend to do here.
Telling readers about what seems like successful
solutions found in both a mussel and an oyster farm in
order to highlight the issue, maybe to throw up a few
ideas but hopefully to tell a tale that will be on interest
to readers of The Grower in any case.
It was a chance remark of Gordon Turnbull of Isle of
Mull Oysters that was the impetus for this article – he
said to me the first time we met that had he not met his
partner, Laura, in Mull when he did, he might well not
have stayed on the island. That would have been one
leg of my succession article missing.
Mull as a location maybe gives another dimension,
but since most aquaculture enterprises in Scotland are
off the beaten track it is perhaps not untypical; my case
study if that is not too grand a name for it, is of
Inverlussa Shellfish and Isle of Mull Oysters.
There is a common theme to these stories. Neither
Douglas Wilson nor Nick Turnbull are native to Mull.
Douglas came from Ayrshire as a teenage boy in the late
70s while Nick arrived from Edinburgh in 1970 - but
both had an initial interest in fishing.
Douglas settled on Loch Spelve in the south west of
Mull. The mussel farm came along as an adjunct to his
fishing activities 25years ago. It started as just a few
lines put out of an evening. Initially the setbacks were
numerous, such as destruction of the lines in a gale,
advent of eider ducks, nothing out of the ordinary for a
mussel farmer. As Douglas describes it, “it took 3-4
years to get so much as a boiling of mussels!” He learnt
the hard way but clearly one gathers as he speaks that
establishing the mussel farm has been his life’s work.
All the family, Helen his wife, Mull born and bred, and
4 children have all worked on the farm, one way or
another but while his 3 daughters no longer have this
hands-on involvement his son Ben is fully involved with
the business as is Helen.
They have now however, also diversified into boat
contracting which Ben runs. Unfortunately I didn’t get
to interview Ben as part of this story. But with recent
problems with poor mussel spat settlement, had it not
been for the boat contracting business now running four
boats mainly contracted out to salmon farms they might
well not have been still be in business now.
It was at the time of the launch of their first boat, the
Margaret Sinclair, that they found their right hand man
in the mussel enterprise. Ben Wilson called up his old
school friend and rugby training mate, Cameron
Maclean, to come into the business as a trainee manager
and he has now worked with them 8 years. Cameron is
Mull born and bred and has recently bought a house in
nearby Salen with his partner who teaches Gaelic in
Mull although she is originally from Skye. Cameron
had worked in the salmon industry for 2 years until ISA
brought a stop to his employment and he moved to
work with Celtic Sea gaining a lot of experience with
mussel farming. He went back to the salmon industry
after nearly 2 years and it was after 3-4 years that he got
the call to come to Inverlussa. His responsibilities have
grown there such that when Inverlussa Mussels won the
prize for the best farmed mussels in Scotland at the
2011 ASSG conference it was Cameron who went up to
receive the prize!
While the farm started out as the odd experimental
line it has grown steadily over the years and at times
has been the largest producing farm in Scotland. But
the same approach to innovation and experimentation
has prevailed. Ben Wilson was sent from an early age
and in school holidays to work with Michael Molloy in
Ireland to be introduced to the concept of what a mussel
farm might be. Douglas has been quick to trial new
methods and was an early adopter of the New Zealand
shaggy rope system which he picked up initially on a
visit to Holland. Shortly after they got their first
container of equipment from NZ and as Cameron
describes it “they struggled to learn how to use it –
mainly by trial and error”. Cameron availed himself of
the learning opportunities in NZ spending 3 weeks there
in the winter of 2008 visiting with Joe Franklin Jnr in
North Island and out of Havelock with Brent Pickering
in South Island and working on a mussel boat 3 nights.
He said “I saw things I had just not even thought of”.
Douglas also visited NZ for the ICMSS conference in
2007 and also took the opportunity to spend time with
their mussel industry (as featured in the March 2007
Grower!)
Douglas seems to be a great source of quotes -
Figure 1 Douglas Wilson at the landing stage -
"“buildings don't make money" so the quay is built of
recycled material.

13. The Grower — 13
“buildings don’t make money” is one such I recall as I
was taken down to their quay, constructed out of second
hand salmon cage anchor blocks. (RBS and NatWest
maybe should have learnt that lesson from him!) When I
arrived in the first rain for some months Douglas was
taking water samples to give to retired research chemist
John Stockwell who examines them to identify and
quantify algae and other plankton such as barnacle
larvae so they always know what is in the water and
how it may affect them. Generally samples are taken 2-
3 times per week so that have an early indication of
whether there is likely to be toxic algae around. If there
are none then end product testing is really not necessary.
Both Douglas and Cameron mentioned the debris of
discarded methods that have built up as they have
trialled different systems. While Douglas seemed to be
saying that the traditional pegged ropes still have a use
alongside the NZ continuous rope system Cameron was
in no doubt that for general user friendliness he would
go for the NZ continuous rope system every time. He is
now the one working out in all weathers these days,
even missing the recent ASSG biosecurity workshop as
he rescued a work raft blown to the shore in the gales
that day. And that was when dressed for the workshop
rather than sea rescue.
That is not to say that Douglas is showing any signs
of slowing down but he is still involved with the mussels
he also has fishing and the boat contracting, as well as
now being vice chair of the Scottish Shellfish Marketing
Group (SSMG). Ben runs the boat contracting and
Cameron runs the mussel farm while Helen does much
of the organising for all of them. And with daughters
legally trained there is access to professional advice on
contracts – clearly a family enterprise but both providing
long term local employment for around 30 people as
well as work experience for visitors.
The origins of the Turnbulls as oyster farmers started
quite differently when Nick and his erstwhile “business
partner” came looking for a base to fish from on the
West Coast. Nick found a beautiful spot and purchased
it for £50 from a landowner “wanting to see smoke in
the chimneys once again” in this far North Westerly part
of Mull looking out over the Isles of Coll and Muck.
Here he worked very hard as a fisherman using the small
slipway down the hill from the “shack” now used by
younger son Kenny who carries on the fishing activity.
Nick lived out of the shack while fishing lobsters around
the Treshnish Islands. Whether seeking out such an
idyllic place initially related to happy childhood
holidays on the west coast we can’t say for sure but no
doubt settling in for the long term became easier with
the arrival of newly graduated teacher Eileen to teach in
the local school who was to become Mrs Turnbull. She
settled in Mull in 1975 and Gordon was born in 1977!
It was not however until the early 1990s when with
the boom in the velvet crab fishery Mull Oysters found
they had capital to invest in setting up the oyster farm
properly. This is sited on the beach just a pleasant walk
away from their house – or so it was the day I was there!
I could imagine there are weathers when it is much less
pleasant to access.
There they now have a capacious shed, extremely
well equipped with sorting and packing equipment to
make the unending task of grading and packing oysters
as easy and efficient as possible. But there is no escape
Figure 2 Back from a long day setting collection
ropes for spat, from left to right, Lachie Taylor,
Lorne MacIver, Cameron Maclean and new arrival
from New Zealand, Matt Johnson
Figure 3 Cameron Maclean in front of the most recent
equipment arrived from New Zealand
Figure 4 Succession in progress; on left younger son
Kenny who concentrates on fishing, Nick in centre
who initially started with fishing and on right elder
son Gordon with current oyster products for sale.

14. The Grower — 14
from bag turning but since his elder son Gordon has
come into the business they have looked into different
systems, such as the Australian suspended bags or
adapting the inexpensive poches for improved growth
using their own modifications to allow better room for
growth.
Gordon has actually been involved in the oyster
business in some way from the very start, being enrolled
to help make the bags when they started but he later
developed his own business processing crab. It was the
lucky coincidence of his having to make the next step
up in this very labour intensive business and the need
for a change in the ownership of the Isle of Mull oysters
at that precise time that suggested a solution in Gordon
stepping into the oyster business full time.
While Nick arrived interested in fishing and able to
develop the oysters as a side-line until they became the
main business, Gordon comes in from quite a different
and complementary route. He did his first degree at
Robert Gordon University in Technology and Business.
This sounds like it was a most interesting course as he
described it, originally designed to encourage women
into engineering so a very wide ranging course but with
a lot of work experience included. After an interlude
back fishing in Mull he went on to do a Master’s degree
in Marine Resource Management at Heriot Watt’s
Orkney campus. This he clearly enjoyed with small
classes and dealing with things like EIAs and studying
the economics of island living, renewables etc. This
degree led to a Fishery Development Officer post down
in South Wales but clearly he wanted to get back to
island life and came back in 2003 to fish and to develop
his crab business.
Once settled into the oyster business he clearly feels
there are things he can improve. He took the
opportunity to go a stay with YAD Marine early on in
their farm in Normandy to see what he could learn from
the French oyster industry. He is already trialling Tony
Legg’s Ortak cages for native oysters and clearly
Gordon is relishing focussing on building the business
for oysters particularly with the current increased
demand. Both Inverlussa and Isle of Mull felt strongly
the value of the ASSG, both having been long term
members, Nick even one of the directors. Gordon made
the point forcefully that dedicated interest groups were
often very strong lobbyists and insisted how much the
farmers need the lobbying power of ASSG to balance
out any conflicts of interest which can arise in the
marine area.
Both are also stalwarts of the SSMG and Nick also
has done his stint as vice chair. Nick pointed out how
much other marine industries could gain from this
cooperative set up and how important it is to have the
Co-op, both in good times but probably more important,
in less favourable times. The value can be particularly
exemplified by the fact that the SSMG holds
certification from both Friends of the Sea and Marine
Stewardship Council for the mussel farming of their
members.
But it was in speaking of the future that Gordon
showed how much he was thinking about things and
became quite heated and the conclusions follow from a
lot of what he said.
Conclusions
So what does our look at two successful cases of
succession planning tell us? Succession planning is
vital because it is just so difficult to start a shellfish
farm from scratch. Initial investment is very large with
considerable delays in getting returns and even
shortening this lead in time by bringing in part grown
stock incurs greater needs of investment. Courtney
Hough identified this problem as “being hard to get
hold of working capital”….but one thing was very clear
that these farms were set up with part finance from
other sources and more importantly, the backstopping
of other income sources.
Maybe there are solutions; if suppliers want a
secure source of shellfish they maybe need to look into
sponsorship schemes to help shellfish farmers get
established. Maybe a system like a shared equity
scheme whereby the new farmer can start off with a
small investment and end up owning. Initially perhaps
guaranteeing all your produce to your sponsor with a
slight loosening as the individual owner’s equity builds
up.
But asked to name the biggest problem Gordon was
adamant – access was the keyword. If people want
farmed shellfish, the farmer has to be able to access the
growing site in a practical fashion. Nick took this
further and suggested there are wider issues of land
ownership and access to the foreshore as well as to the
land site. He also suggested there is a need for a
government or industry backed adviser who can guide
those interested through all the hurdles that stop many
people getting started. Nick commented, “it is hard
Succession planning—continued
Figure 6 Laura, Gordon's partner who came to Mull as
marine biologist working on a whale project pictured with
Nick and the trestles in the background

15. The Grower — 15
Succession planning—continued
enough for those of us who have been growing shellfish
for a long time but increasing bureaucracy and
legislation both to protect the marine environment and
the consumers leaves little room to nurture the even
rarer species of younger individuals prepared to invest
their lives into growing shellfish in Scotland.”
That is the farmers’ concern. But for those of us on
the outside the concern has to be whether there will be
enough shellfish farms in Scotland in the future,
providing the product that we know is the ultimate
farmed food, nutritionally, ecologically and
environmentally triple A.
A much shorter version of this story has also
featured in Fish Farmer magazine Vol 36 no.3 May/
June 2013
Figure 7: Gordon and Nick Turnbull in their well
equipped work shed. All photos J.H.Brown
Scottish support network now operational
for new Ortac oyster cultivation system
Fusion Marine has now put in place a comprehensive
support network in Scotland for the new Ortac oyster
farming system.
Developed by Jersey based shellfish farmer Tony
Legg, (pictured below) Ortac dramatically reduces la-
bour costs in comparison with conventional oyster bags
and trestles, and features a sophisticated through-flow
system that improves growth rates without compromis-
ing shell quality. It has already been used with great
success in the Channel Islands and now Fusion Marine
is bringing the system to Scotland after being appointed
as a supplier and support company.
Recently, Fusion Marine Managing Director Stephen
Divers and Development Engineer Rhuaraidh Edwards
made a site visit to Jersey to see the system in operation
at first hand and to finalise arrangements for setting up
the supply and support network for Scotland. Tony Legg
has been farming different types of oysters with the
Ortac System since it was first developed in 1998 and he
is still using the same Ortac units to this day! Original
production focused on the Pacific Oyster (Crassostrea
gigas) with an annual harvest of about 30 tonnes per
year, but Tony changed over to native oysters (Ostrea
edulis) about three years ago in a trial to see if they
could be farmed inter-tidally – which has since proved a
great success.
Currently about five tonnes of native oysters are
spread across 700 Ortacs with a further million juveniles
in a 300 unit Ortac nursery system. Further Ortacs are
planned to be added to this system over the coming year
as nursery output increases to handle an anticipated an-
nual production of approximately 75 tonnes over the
next few years.
Following Fusion Marine’s involvement, several
Scottish shellfish farmers are now trialling the Ortac
system and it is anticipated that it has the potential to
revolutionise the way in which oysters are cultivated in
Scotland. In particular, Fusion Marine believes there are
excellent opportunities in utilising Ortac within integrat-
ed multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) projects.
Oyster farmers keen to learn more about Ortac or
who are interested in becoming involved in trials should
contact Rhuaraidh Edwards at Fusion Marine, details at
www.fusionmarine.com/

16. The Grower — 16
Oyster Herpes and Other Biosecurity Issues
Workshop
On a very wild and windy day in April the
workshop, courtesy of funding from Seafish was held at
SAMS Oban. There were a number of absences due to
the weather, with either ferries not running or
emergency rescues of gear being necessary but there
was still a good turn out for what was judged to be a
very useful event.
There were 4 speakers, Michael Gubbins of CEFAS
Weymouth spoke on the current oyster herpes situation
in England and Wales, Mar Marcos-Lopez of Marine
Science Scotland talked of the wider issues of risks
posed to Scottish shellfish aquaculture from other
diseases and Fabrice Richez gave us the inside story on
the oyster herpes virus as experienced in France. The
talks concluded with Martin Flanigan of Aquaculture
Initiative talking about what they are doing about the
oyster herpes virus in N. Ireland which was immensely
practical. The discussion which followed, chaired by
workshop organiser Janet Brown resulted in a few
action points being agreed for the Scottish industry.
Craig Burton as rapporteur of the meeting has already
produced the draft report of the workshop which is
currently with the speakers for final comment. When it
is finished it will be distributed to participants and also
be made available on
the ASSG website
(www.assg.org.uk) The
presentations from the
speakers are already
available on the website
for those unable to
attend on the day. The
action points will be
discussed by the ASSG
management committee
at their next meeting.
Above; Craig Burton, rapporteur for the workshop, discusses
with Fabrice Richez and Martin Flanigan. Below; the
participants and bottom from left, Martin Flanigan, Fabrice
Richez, Michael Gubbins, Janet Brown and Mar Marcos-
Lopez

17. The Grower — 17
Selling your business - preparation for sale
Alan R MacKenzie
When do I begin the process?
Begin now. This is the biggest financial decision a shellfish
farmer, indeed any business owner, is likely to make.
The reason to start the process immediately is to maximise
the selling price of the business. Every part of the review to be
carried out will be aimed at increasing the value in your
company by ensuring there are no difficulties that will present
themselves when it comes to finalising the sale but also
identifying worth in areas of the firm where none exists at the
moment.
Some actions on which a seller will embark may, in some
instances, take months or even years to complete.
How do I begin the process?
A large part of the pre-selling route can be initiated by the
individual or team concerned without the need for external
advice.
However, it must be remembered that a fresh eye can
identify additional promise in a business whereas the incumbent
may be too close and not see the ‘wood for the trees’. Further
consider whether it will distract the seller’s attention from the
day-to-day running of operations and actually cost money rather
than increase value.
Irrespective of the seller deciding to go it alone or using
professional advice the first thing to do is sit down and draw up
a list of all assets of the firm. Then draw up a list of all
liabilities. Do not only include liabilities as they now stand but
identify those which may occur due to something the business
may do (or not do) at a later date. These are known as
contingent liabilities.
Due Diligence
Following the primary overview the time is ready to conduct
due diligence. It is highly recommended to involve professional
legal advice at this stage.
Legal due diligence refers to the investigation of contracts
the business has entered into or has omitted to do so and to
identify the possible effect on a firm - and its value - due to
potential obligations to the business.
Most due diligence is contractual in nature and therefore it is
proper that legal checks are made on the background and future
commitments of the contracts. A related legal compliance area
is that of intellectual property rights that a business may have
but has not yet been publicly recorded.
There are many aspects to due diligence but a great deal of
review will concern the fixed assets of the company.
Most business concerns will have premises of some sort.
Prominent amongst those is property whether utilised to
depurate or process shellfish or to store and repair equipment.
Buildings will be either leased or owned - outright or
mortgaged.
Leases can add to the sales price in that a legal review can
identify the length of the lease, when and how rent will be
reviewed, potential liabilities for the business, and escape
clauses.
As the majority of aquaculture farms will have a lease with
The Crown Estate the terms should be reviewed with an eye to a
prospective purchaser’s requirements.
A long-term lease can be used as collateral by a purchaser in
negotiations with financial providers such as banks. That could
mean a purchaser can borrow at a lower rate of interest than
would otherwise be the case by agreeing to note the interest of
the lender and granting security over the agreement in case of
default by the borrowing tenant.
Rent reviews contained in private contracts need to be
assessed to ensure that the business does not find itself
committed to an increase in rental payments that puts it at a
disadvantage to its competitors. If rent can be agreed for a
clearly defined period ahead then it gives greater confidence to
the financial projections.
Potential liabilities within leases can be a minefield. For
instance, where facilities are shared with others in the same
building the tenant could suddenly find themselves with an
enormous bill to pay for common or shared costs. The lease
must be scrutinised to determine what the liabilities are or could
be. Examples are the re-roofing of a building, drainage
problems, water ingression or flooding, a broken lift, or new
stairwells and disability accesses.
Even where the building is not shared with other tenants it
may be that the business will have a liability to maintain access
roads or common gardens, displays or recreational areas. Are
all planning, operating consents and licences valid?
It is worthwhile considering, in terms of the business plan,
how operations will fare in the coming years. Will the
company outgrow the current premises? Or will downsizing
become an issue?
Either way it is always wise to build-in an escape clause to
a lease whenever possible. Break clauses allow the business to
terminate the agreement at defined intervals such as every 5
years. To escape may incur financial penalties or an obligation
to restore premises to their original condition as of when the
lease was entered into.
Although fixed assets will form a large part of many
business operations that is far from the full story.
Legal scrutiny should cover equipment rental agreements;
software and hardware contracts; data storage, cloud computing
(or other remote systems); IT including landlines, mobiles, tills,
stock and ordering systems; and security, safety and health
requirements. Is there a current bio-security measures plan?
Are there long-term agreements with hatcheries to buy
stock, or guarantees to customers on market prices and
volumes?
Labour relations will form an integral part of the
purchaser’s due diligence and all potential issues need to be
recorded and resolved prior to putting the business up for sale.
Incident and complaint records should be reviewed and
updated.
Outstanding legal disputes with suppliers or customers must
also be brought to a conclusion and where debts cannot be
recovered then they should be written off in the management
and financial accounts.
Contingent liabilities must be identified and quantified.
There are numerous examples but a simple one is where vehicle
hire imposes an annual travel limit. Should that be surpassed
then punitive charges come into force. The business needs to
plan ahead for these eventualities and make adequate
provisions.
Some insurance requirements are laid down in law whilst
others are contractual and some are discretionary. Examples in
these categories are employers’ liability, insurance for leased
premises, and business interruption or gap cover.
Copyrights, design, patent and trademarks are vital in
adding value to a business and help form barriers to entry.
These are covered in a separate document in this series of
articles.
At this stage update the business plan.
Only now is the seller in a position to put a price on the
business for sale.
A variation of this article originally appeared on the Calum I
Duncan Corporate Lawyers Ltd website at www.duncancorp.com/
© Alan R MacKenzie 2013

18. The Grower — 18
Shellfish biotoxin, Phytoplankton and E.coli
monitoring annual reports published
The Food Standards Agency in Scotland (FSAS) has
published the 2012 biotoxin, phytoplankton and
microbiological monitoring programme annual reports
for shellfish harvesting areas across Scotland.
These reports, which have been produced for FSAS
by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and
Aquaculture Science (Cefas) describe the results of
shellfish and water sampling undertaken as part of the
official control monitoring programme in Scotland.
The programme delivers testing required by EU law.
The FSA would like to thank harvesters, sampling
officers, local authorities and laboratories for their work
and co-operation in delivering the programme across
Scotland. Without that co-operation the programme
could not be delivered and the input from ASSG
members as well as the wider Scottish harvesting
community is very much appreciated.
News from FSAS
HACCP and Biotoxins
Data from the Shellfish Toxin and Phytoplankton
monitoring programmes are currently indicating both
the presence of PSP toxins and Alexandrium
phytoplankton in Scottish waters. The highest PSP
result in at least 5 years was found in a sample collected
in the north of Scotland on 18th
June (4776µg STX eq/
kg).
It is important to highlight that the FSA’s official
control monitoring programme is intended to monitor
the status of the shellfish harvesting waters. Although
it can, where appropriate, inform a business’ risk
assessment, it is not designed to verify the health status
of shellfish placed on the market. It is the responsibility
of the FBO to demonstrate the safety of products they
place on the market.
The FBO’s HACCP should identify the testing
necessary for each of the toxin groups and the
frequency of testing needed to ensure that risks are
reduced to an acceptable level. A number of factors
including time of year, historical data, phytoplankton
results, monitoring results (for both the harvesting area
and other areas), previous own test results and industry
results from neighbouring areas may influence the
frequency of testing and the toxins being tested for. For
example in situations where previous testing or the
results of official control monitoring have indicated the
presence of PSP toxins, or rising levels of DSP toxins,
it would be necessary for the FBO to increase the
monitoring of specific batches. During the peak toxin
season, when high toxin levels are routinely detected, it
may be necessary to monitor every batch. Toxin levels
can fluctuate rapidly and is not acceptable for FBOs to
rely solely on the results of the official control
monitoring programme to assess product safety.
The most common marine bio-toxins in Scottish
waters are PSP, ASP and DSP (Okadaic Acid), for
which there are commercial tests and test kits readily
available.
Please see attached link to the FSA guidance on End
Product Testing.
http://food.gov.uk/scotland/safetyhygienescot/
shellmonitorscot/endproducttestingshellfishtoxins/
FSAS has asked local authorities to confirm that the
HACCP in place in approved premises is sufficient to
protect against the risks associated with algal toxins.
Enforcement action will be taken to ensure that
establishments with an inadequate HACCP, or who are
not complying with their HACCP, implement an
appropriate HACCP to adequately control the risks from
marine bio-toxins.
In view of the potential for toxin groups such as PSP
and ASP to cause very serious illness, the FSA expects
that food business operators will contact all customer
businesses and that there is appropriate consumer
publicity to ensure that anyone with symptoms seeks
medical attention.
It is the FSA’s position that in the absence of
specific test results for batches placed on the market,
any official control result over the regulatory limit
which closes an area from which product has been
harvested is considered as sufficient information for an
FBO to undertake a withdrawal or recall, with the
associated publicity. Whilst this is specifically directed
at approved premises, ASSG member harvesters may
wish to consider what levels of EPT could support their
customers. This position re-iterates that which was
advised by FSA in December 2012 following the audit
of shellfish official controls in the UK by the EU
Commission. This is not a request to test every batch,
rather for approved premises to have an appropriate
HACCP which suitably addresses the risks associated
with biotoxins which will vary considerably across
Scotland.
Please contact Andy Morrison for further details: 01224
285196
Andrew.morrison@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

19. The Grower — 19
An executive summary can be downloaded from the
Scottish Government website at
www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/shellfish-scot-
2012.pdf Links to the latest reports are available in the
table below. Full hyperlink address also given for those
reading the hard copy!
2012 Programme Location of full reports
Biotoxins & phytoplankton
algal toxin surveillance pages of the Cefas website
www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/our-science/animal-health-and-food-
safety/food-safety/algal-toxins-surveillance/biotoxin-monitoring-
programmes.asp
E.coli
Scotland classification and monitoring page of the Cefas website
www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/our-science/animal-health-and-food-safety/food
-safety/classification-and-microbiological-monitoring/scotland-
classification-and-monitoring.aspx
Chemical contaminants
Official control monitoring results page of the FSAS website
www.food.gov.uk/enforcement/monitoring/shellfish/algaltoxin/
#.UcVkAoNwbIU
Sanitary surveys/reviews
Scotland sanitary survey page of the Cefas website
www.cefas.defra.gov.uk/our-science/animal-health-and-food-safety/food
-safety/sanitary-surveys/scotland.aspx
For any queries regarding the Shellfish Monitoring
Programme please contact
Jennifer Howie on 01224 285 157
jennifer.howie@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
News from FSAS cont

20. The Grower — 20
Sydney hosts International Conference on
Molluscan Shellfish Safety 2013
The International Conference on Molluscan Shellfish
Safety (ICMSS) was held in Sydney Australia recently.
Pictured above left , Bill Burkhardt (US FDA)
summarising the virus discussions at the Conference and
right, Robbie Moxon, a 4th
generation oyster grower in
The Hawkesbury, explaining their trials and tribulations
to a cross-section of the Conference participants during
the field trip. A full report from the conference can be
read on page 8 which also marks the last appearance in
this newsletter of “Notes from Down Under” unless the
Editor can find a suitable candidate to fill the shoes
Doug McLeod has been wearing for the past 5 years.
Offers welcomed.
All photos from ICMSS courtesy Doug McLeod
Celebrations at the Marine Aquaculture
awards
repopulating the native oyster beds of Loch Ryan for
future generations. Pictured below Enjoying the drinks
and delicious canapés before the dinner from left
Lawrence Eagling and Dr Liz Ashton of QUB Belfast,
Tristan Hugh –Jones, Dr Janet Brown and David Scott.
Photos by Lewis Houghton Photography and below Gordon Terris
Pictured below Tristan Hugh Jones receives the award
to Loch Ryan Oysters from Iain Dixon, Principal
Environmental consultant for Xodus Group Ltd who
sponsored the Stewardship prize. Bottom picture: all
the winners including second right Rob Lamont, skipper
of the Vital Spark, an integral part of the team that is